Roxy Music
Manifesto

THE REVIEW

I really didn't expect to see an empty space for "Manifesto" around here.
Roxy Music, ladies and gentlemen. A classic case of "either you love them, or you hate them."

Having reached high peaks of creativity with the release of "Siren" in 1975, Bryan Ferry and company take some time for themselves and for new solo musical adventures. They return in 1979 with this album, with a much longer gap between albums than usual (and it will remain that way).
During the years away from "Roxy's home," the music world underwent revolutionary changes, especially with the advent of Disco Music, which I want to focus on.
The sound of Roxy Music changes, and quite a bit, stylistically and qualitatively compared to previous works: Glam Rock is now almost entirely surpassed and comes into play, precisely, the Disco, an influence that is felt on this album, though added in bursts and with balance.

As was customary, they released the usual ten or so tracks, which, in hindsight, we can define as a bridge between the spirit of the five albums (from '72 to '75) and the later ones (early '80s). "Manifesto" can be considered an isolated case, experiments of redefining their sound that will nevertheless remain throughout their career of unshakable refinement and intense fragrance.
The artistic vein is not yet at its best after the return, but I still want to certify it as an excellent album.

I don't know much about discos, let alone those that existed in the late '70s, but we can compare it to an evening spent in one of them: the dance begins with the semi-instrumental title track, with a steady but groovy rhythm, which is the exact representation of entering the room, so you try to get accustomed, you haven't spoken to anyone yet and you start to loosen up slowly as the minutes pass.
When "Trash" arrives (you can already hear hints of Disco in the distance), you're already at the center of the dance floor, going wild on your own in the swarm of moving bodies, and you see her, a beautiful stranger ("Angel Eyes", where the influence is very noticeable) and you approach her.
There's a connection, you share the same desire for change, to let loose even just for one evening. The rhythms change and you dance together to a couple of songs, intimately ("Still Falls The Rain", "Dance Away").
The hours pass, everything is going well, and it doesn't seem real, but here comes the blow that shatters all the stories you've told yourself, the illusions: she tells you she had a beautiful evening but unfortunately has to get married the next day and was just trying to relieve that type of tension. She understands your disappointment, tries to apologize in vain, and thus exits the scene... "Spin Me Round" starts right on cue, as you sit in a corner of the bar and the dance floor gradually empties more and more.

Precisely with the concluding "Spin Me Round", to be defined as the absolute gem of "Manifesto," Roxy Music heralds the imminent almost ethereal sounds that we will have the pleasure to enjoy in the subsequent "Flesh + Blood" but especially in the masterpiece "Avalon".